Bringing diversity to our artistic landscape   

African American culture has a rich history of the performing arts and that appreciation can be felt today. However, African American visual artists have not been as embraced in the culture. The importance of our performing and musical artists are noted and not at all meant to be minimalized. There is however a disparity between African American culture's receptiveness to the performing as opposed to the visual arts. Most representations of visual art within the creative institutions of African American culture are relegated to the past with little emphasis on the contemporary artists of color which are the future. Romarre Bearden, and Jacob Lawrence are the perennial references that Black Americans have when it comes to the visual arts. While there are artists such as Julie Mehretu, Sol Sax, and Purvis Young, few of them are house hold names in Black America. Their individual successes have been incredible by any measure and their contributions to creativity should be known. I was invited to attend the TAAC (The Association of American Cultures) Conference this past June and it was very eye opening. In a few of the focus groups I was a part of I noticed there was an undertone of us against them. I am an African American man who has a deep connection with my culture creatively, but I try to be an objective thinker first and foremost. There was a segment that discussed challenging the Eurocentric Paradigm in the arts. There was the notion that there was an omission of African Americans in the visual arts when it came to the major institutions and organizations. Although this discussion was only a brief segment of the entire complex issue, it struck a nerve with several people. My response was one that tossed the ball back to the African American community. The question I posed was how well are we supporting our Black established art facilities? How are we supporting our Black visual artists? In many instances, the visual arts is bypassed in favor of the musical arts. Gospel music and song in general are the creative forms of expression heavily supported by the African American community. If there is no support by Blacks for Blacks in the visual arts, how can the Eurocentric Art community embrace it? I have witnessed visual arts festivals in Black communities that featured more choirs than painters or sculptors. There is little issue when it comes to the respect and legacy of African American music in both the Black community or the White community. There are many institutions that support the musical endeavors of the Black artists and many of those are funded well. The visual arts are an area of weakness. Institutions that are competent and committed are needed to bring focus to Black institutions of the visual arts. There must be support from within the Black community to make impacts from organizational viewpoints. I believe when that happens, we will begin to see an equal respect for the performing arts and the visual arts by the Black creative community and the White majority's creative community.

Until that happens, it will be very difficult to take a segment of the visual arts community seriously until it does itself.

-Nathan Lee Inclusion in Art Director

Lee is a regular contributing writer for Oklahoma Arts Coalition's Art Focus publication.